#starling days

[awkwardbirdsdreaming]

Bird #29 - the Bali myna (CR)

Endemic to the province of Bali in Indonesia, this striking starling is endangered mostly due to poaching for the caged bird market. There is a large number of birds in captivity, so they won't go extinct anytime soon, but the wild population is estimated to be less than 100.

Have you ever noticed there's a lot of light-coloured birds with dark wing tips and tails? (Seagulls, terns, pelicans, long-tailed tits, etc...)

This is because feathers with melanin (a dark pigment) are more resistant to damage than feathers without pigment! The wing tips and tail are susceptible to being damaged while birds flap about, so these areas tend to have more melanin to protect them. Now if you see a bird with dark wings and tail you'll know why :)

[gresit]

A MOVIE A DAY KEEPS THE GHOULIES AWAY - DAY 5 ↪ And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) dir. Jonathan Demme

[hauntedandmurdered]

The sexiest touch in movie history and no, nothing's ever gonna change my mind.

[star-ar512]

[admiralgiggles]

[amnhnyc]

Have you ever looked up at the sky to see a view like this? When masses of Starlings (genus Sturnidae) fly in sync, this phenomenon is known as a murmuration. Wonder why these birds do this? Flying in a group of hundreds, sometimes even thousands, provides protection against predators: The mass can be daunting for a falcon who’s trying to snatch a single target from the quick-moving crowd. To stay in a tight formation, each starling is in tune with the motions of seven of its surrounding neighbors. Doing so allows each bird to respond to the fluid movements of the overall cohort, as there’s no single bird leading the flock.

Photo: Damien Walmsley, CC BY-NC 2.0, flickr

[missmolsa]

Some girlies <33

[rainblescake]

the

[catofaurora]

[o-dandelion-o]

Made those a couple of days ago for the National Sunglasses Day ☀️ Sanrio style

[awkwardbirdsdreaming]

Bird #34 - the violet-backed starling (LC)

Also called the plum-coloured starling, you can find them in sub-Saharan Africa wherever it isn't too dry or dense rainforest. The females unfortunately are streaky brown, as is the way with birds.

These starlings feed in the canopy away from ground, which is pretty peculiar for a starling! They also use dung, along with fresh leaves, as nesting material. Interesting choice of things to put your children in.

[dunyun-rings]

my hourly comics from today 🍳

[nitromethane]

this facility is lost. turn back before it's too late.

[tealottie]

a day late, but it's better than nothing <3

[star-ar512]

star with a trumpet sketches

[adam-trademark]

Kansas City Zoo Revisited

(7/9)

(June 29, 2024)